A deluge and a boatload of redfish, trout and flounder at Redfish U.-Feb. 18, 2012

Wow!! Extremely high winds, pounding rain and very high water. The conditions were unbeliavably difficult but these anglers must have really wanted to fish at Redfish University today! There would be a “bite-window” before the crap from the west arrived so we timed the trip before the weather warnings and stuck a HUGE amount of quality fish. I guided a couple anglers from Virginia Beach today both of which were pretty experienced which made life much easier in some truly awful conditions. Suited the fellas up in Redfish University’s fancy Patagonia and Yamaha all-weather riot gear and we were off. Fished some calm areas and some very rough areas but it made no difference, the fish were rabid. Started by sticking beautiful speckled trout in the 15-23″ range nearly every single cast and our limit of 17-19″ trout was complete in a snap with most 20+” fish released healthy. Travelled to the flounder and stuck three big flounder quickly with as many shaking the fish at the boat. Hurried over to the redfish and stuck countless fish but they were either small 16-18.5″ redfish or they were big 28-30″ oversized redfish. A few hooked fish were followed-up with casts to secure some double hookups but even those fish were overs and unders. I even got some action with a followed-up redfish at 28″. I guess it’s better to catch a bunch of redfish with no legals than to not catch any at all. We really hurried around smartly and methodically today and took care of business before the bad weather hit. Boat positioning was absolutely, positively the key. That, and the fish were crazy hungry. No Sebile Bongos today with all fish caught on Gulp! Jerkshads, Sand Eels and 1/2oz. Johnson Black Spoons. Yep, black. Total: 50-60 Speckled Trout, 15+ Redfish and 3 big flounder but missed several.Redfish U. trips Sunday-Thursday next week with some high winds predicted in the near future. Thank goodness and looking forward to it!! Thanks, E Holstman

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